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Y COUNTRY; 



AS SHE WAS IW 1776 



AS SHE IS IN 1846. 



AN ADDRESS 

Delivered in Coventry ^ R. I., July 4.th, 1846. 

BY C. W. 



PROVIDENCE : 
B . T . A L B R O— P R I N T E R 

1 S 4 8 , 



^■^,3 



V-:;. T 






A D D 11 E S S 



Though, correctly understood, '' the day of one's death is 
better than the day of one's birth," the world would fain think 
otherwise. Men spend the anniversary of the day that gave 
them birth, in making merry over the good things allotted them 
in this brief existance, and Carlyle's " Hero Worship," is so 
prevalent, that the idolators especially remember the bii'th days 
of their demigods. 

This is the anniversary of a day in this world's existence, 
when another was added to the great family of nations, and 
the day itself is of some consequence in the records of the 
great events of the past. 

Whether the Minerva like birth of this giant Nation will 
prove for better or for worse, il certainly has and will continue 
to exercise a mighty influence over the affairs of earth. 

Then this day is of some importance and is every way calcu- 
lated to give birth hi turn to thoughts, in the mightiest minds, 
in all respects worthy of them. 

Permitted to enjoy the bounties of Heaven in profusion, 
while millions are deprived to day even of this invigorating, 
life-giving air; 'tis meet that we spend a portion of the hours 
in solemn reflection. 

I would to God that you could listen to one better qualified 
to inspire the thoughts that ought to sway this congregaton to 
and fro like a rushing wind, at this hour, and especially have I 
feared the want of effect from my feeble words, while listening 
to my talented friends who have preceded me. 

But from that day in which I read the first page of her deep- 
ly interesting history, 1 have loved my country. 

This perhaps may somewhat amend for the want of power 
to do justice on this occasion, and at last will cause me to speak 
my thoughts. . 

Seventy years ago to dny, o\v: ilulirrs formally severed the )j 
chain, that bound them to the tiironc of Britain, and for them- 
selves and their posterity, cast off all allegiance to her sceptre. 

They fought, and bled, and died. t(^ establish a Government 
that would protect you and I m the enjoyment of life and lib- 
erty, and in the pursuit of happiness. 

The iu'ivilege to stand under this, our fig tree, to day, is cer- 
tainly one of the fruits of their labors, and suffering, and toils. 

To lay the foundation of a just Government, was the Polar 



Star that directed them : the great object on which their heroic 
efforts were concentrated ; and the protection to humanity of 
which I have spoken, is the uhimate object of all governments, 
founded by a people thirsting for freedom. 

Voluntary compacts entered into, for inutual protection from 
the evil doer, and mutual assistance in the day of affliction, are 
institutions that God will recognise as just, while a human 
being will wrong his fellow ; and the government that is not 
such a compact, the result of such an agreement on the part of 
the governed, is not founded in justice. Yet, strange as 
it may seem, there may be some here who deny the utility and 
affect to discard the protection of such an institution ! — 
With them I have no argument. I commend to them the 
comparison of Burke, to illustrate the position of England, in 
her infantracidal contest with these colonies. 

When told in the debates in Parliament, that the effort to 
conquer the rebellious colonies would prove in vain, the cham- 
pions of George the III. and his tyranical ministry, replied, 
'• we have the right to conquer, and we will conquer America !" 
An insane man, said Burke, resolved to shear a wolf regardless 
of his own safety ; his friends asked him if he had considered 
the danger of the foolish attempt ; the exposure of his life to 
the savage animal? No, said the mad man. Man has the right 
of dominion over the beasts, and I will shear the wolf!" 

Gentlemen, you who ask no protection of human govern- 
ment, go at the wolf, sheep-shears and all, but while men are 
wicked enough to sell liquid poison, or enslave the bodies and 
souls of their fellow men, as weak m body as I am, I shall 
claim protection of the government of my native land. 

But what is stranger still, these men who preach such senti- 
ments express the utmost tear of their fellows ! They call the 
churches, even a brotherhood of tliicves, robbers, and murder- 
ers ! 

I do not deny the truth of tlie charge. But then, gently as 
a sucking dove, they ask us to give such wicked churches full 
liberty ;iud licence without law. Such sentiments have been 
quite rife in New England, but they have recently become so 
obsolete that even the Antislavery convention in May last, in 
Hoston, unanimously pledged itself in favor of a human gov- 
; ernment founded in justice and equality. 

However, for want of foresight the effort may have failed ; 
no one present dare deny that to establish such a government, 
was the fond object of our fathers from the day that Warren 
fell on Bunker's Hill, to the day that the last of the red coats 
WELs driven from our shores. 

If ever on earth men were actuated by the love of country 
and of liberty, the patriots of the revolution were the men ! 



And their blood was not shed in vain. No ! I call these 
happy children, to witness, that our fathers did not bare 
their bosoms to the iron storm without effect ! 

And yet because the wrongs of some in our midst, go 
unredressed, while we enjoy a measure of freedom, the precious 
boon purchased by their sufl:erings, many of us seem never to 
appreciate their efforts for us, their uugrateful children. If ever 
ingratitude, that basest of the baser feelings, had a resting place, 
it is in the heart of that man, who, though he knows that the 
summers of that seven years war, were spent in bloody con- 
tests with the tyrant's minions, and the winters in privation and 
sickness, and wretchedness, by those lion hearted men, that he 
might be free, yet because all the blessings they anticipated 
have not been dispensed as they designed, dares to curse his 
country and spurn the protection she does afford him ! Such 
men have forgotten " the rock from which they were hewn, " 
" the pit from which they were dug, " and are unworthy to en- 
joy the freedom bequeathed them, by their sires. 

The very fact that they can freely utter sentiments, which 
they would not dare to breathe in any other land, ought to 
close their mouths, for though the worst form of human bond- 
age has an existence on these shores, this fact is a perfect dem- 
onstration that these men at least, enjoy a measure of that bles- 
sing for which our sires poured forth their blood and treasure, 
free as air. 

Americans ! Whatever you may think of the present imhap- 
py situation of our beloved land, however you lament the de- 
parture of her ancient freedom from the places hallowed by its 
venerable shrines, though you mourn over the cruel wrongs per- 
petuated by her now, and weep to see her children oppressed and 
enslaved, never forget that memorable struggle for the rights of 
man, in which our fathers were engaged ! Always remember 
the men who suffered all the imagination can conceive, that 
you and I might live happy in the enjoyment of liberty ! 

The times that tried mens soul's are worthy of remembrance 
forever, and the noble spirits engaged in those stiring scenes, 
were worthy of the times ! Yes ! the descendants of the 
Hampdens and Sidneys, the children of those stern and upright 
men, who first for the sake of freedom, landed in this unknown 
wilderness, were worthy to battle for human liberty. The 
man, who because those true men in the light they possessed, 
did not come up to his present standard of right, can so far for- 
get what they suffered for oppressed humanity, as to defame 
and blacken their characters and well earned fame, to impute to 
them the worst of motives, had ought himself to be enslaved ! 
Wilberforce and Clarkson have won immortal fame by their 
stedfast integrity to the eternal principles of justice ; but Henry, 



Warren, Otis, Juhii Adams, Hancock, Shciiuun, Fiaukhn, Mor- 
ris. Jefferson, the great Washington, and that noblest Roman ot" 
them all, Samuel Adams, declared their adherence, and mani- 
fested their true fidelity to the same great principles, ere Wil- 
berforce and Clarkson ever lisped of freedom ! 

Render to them then, the tribute of gratitude and admira- 
tion, due from such as enjoy, at least a portion of the match- 
less blessings secured by their pure and unwavering attachment 
to the rights of man. Many times at different periods of this 
world's wonderful history, the bone and sinew of many a 
nation, has been exerted to sunder the haughty oppressors chains, 
liberate the captives, and establish a free government for the 
protection of the common weal ; but millions have poured out 
their heart's hot blood on the sanguinary battle field, and rushed 
into eternity fondly dreaming they were martyrs in the cause oi 
human liberty, while in utter ignorance of what was XxvAy free- 
dom. It was reserved for the energetic, strong minded, indom- 
itable iron willed Anglo Saxon, to promulgate in the new 
world, the true principles of liberty founded in justice and 
equality, and to do and die for oppressed humanity ! Nobly in 
that bloody struggle did they sacrifice their lives for Independ- 
ence ; and I would to God our Government had been estab- 
lished and administerd to this day, on the great principles for* 
which they contended. 

Many ])atriots withstood the tyrant's rod, and shouted "/ree- 
flom,'^ til the cry reverberated from glen to glen, from one end 
to the other of the British Isles ere our fathers landed on these 
shores,but from the lofty minded John Hampden. to the humblest 
of the lovers of his country's liberty, almost all were crushed 
beneath the iron heel of the proud oppressor ! The cry of the 
freeman was hushed, but not forever. Seeking civil and reli- 
gious freedom, many of them fled on the Avings of the wind 
across the stormy ocean, found a dreary shelter in this then 
dreary wilderness, 'mid the bowlings of wild beasts, and the 
yells of the savages, and swearing renewed allegiance to free- 
dom, erected their family altars again. They had their faults. 
Some of their acts were unworthy of the stern Pinitans. But 
remember, ere you condemn them, the light of the seventeenth 
century, was not the light of the nineteenth. Let us forget 
their faults, and cherish the remembrance of their vn'tues ! — 
L'^t them rest in peace ! 

Innured to toil and suftering, and danger, compelled to rely 
on their own resources for protection, the descendants of the 
settlers of these shores, grew and waxed strong, until at the break- 
ing out of the Revolution, they possessed not only the inicon- 
quered spirit of their stCa ; old fathers, but had a far better un- 
derstanding of the rights of man, and more justly appreciated 



the great principles for which they contended, l^'or want ol 
knowledge, they too committed errors ; they were not perfect ; 
but the glorious sentiments written on the standard elevated by 
them, and around which they rallied through a seven years 
war, however they afterwards departed from them, have always 
been recognized by the world, as the sacred principles of liberty! 

For years previous to the breaking out of the revolution, the 
home government continued to oppress these colonies, until in 
1775, it became so palpably evident that the lordly aristocracy on 
the " father land," intended to coerce and wring by cruel tax- 
ation, the hard earning of the toiling laborers from them,to array 
themselves in splendor ; the prospect of abject servitude so 
stared them in the face, that they were ready and ripe for 
rebellion. 

The storm so long in gathering, the fearful warnings of 
whose dread approach had been heard at intervals, rumbling as 
the far off thunder, especially in "the Boston Massacre "and at 
" the burning of the Gaspee, at last broke over the oppressors 
heads ; the smothered fires flashed into a united blaze, from one 
end of this Union to the other ! 

United heart and hand, a band of freemen, small in number, 
arose in their strength and threw off like the old giant of Israel, 
the bonds of the powerful tyrant tliat enchained them ! I wish 
not to dwell on the eventful, yet bloody history of that dread- 
ful contest. 

I desire rather to speak of the great, because true principles 
avowed at that time, than the actions of those who proclaimed 
them. Suffice it to say, our fathers " knew their rights," and 
Not only ^^ dared " dut did mamtain them ! 

Principles were avowed at the commencement of that mighty 
contest, that startled the slumbering world ; The hoary mon- 
archies across the water trembled like an aspen leaf from centre 
to circumference. The "war cry" of the freeman again rent 
the air ; even the glens of Switzerland reechoed the cry as 
they were wont in the days of Tell ! The trembling knees of 
kings and emperors smote together like Bellshazzers, long after 
the battle here was ended : for the curtain did not shut from 
view the last great act of the drama then begun, until the 
" SMW of Napoleon " went down like a meteor on the field of 
Waterloo, more than forty years after ! 

The convulsive throes of all Europe, for thirty years, were 
but the workings of the same great principles, the leaven iiifi;ssd 
by that seven years war for freedom! Tis true, despots contended 
with each other, for each other's thrones ; but the ball that rolled 
over the blood stained continent,was first set in motion in France, 
by the masses who caught the infection from those who fought 
at Bunker Hill and Saratoga and Yorktown. The mighty 



minds who i'l ''76/' lode the wliirhvirid xiwd directed th..- 
siorm, '■ published to the world a " Declaratioii '' of the prm- 
ciples for \vhich they coiitcndcd, and pledged to its support 
their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. Though the 
tempest has often howled around that ^' I?istrumefit,'^ not a 
word is yet obliterated — and though men have since by thous- 
ands, perhaps justly, condemned the Constitution under whicli 
the States afterwards united, and the hypocritical admmistra- 
tion of the government under its provisions, yet even he v.ho 
is so bold now as to raise the cry of '^ disunion,'^ never utters a 
word against the '• Declaration of Independence." No ! in 
conjuction with "the Word of God,'^ 'tis the text book of 
the freeman throughout the world : the best exposition of " the 
Inalienable B/'u-hts of man,'' ^ that a nation ever united in de- 
lending. The most radical lover of freedom always appeals to 
it for principles. ****«=******* 

But alas ! I have already shown you the bright side of the 
picture ^! Shall wo gaze upon the other ? The dazzling splen- 
dor of the part on which we have already looked, has often so 
blnided the eyes of the beholders, that they have failed to see 
the glaring imperfections of the part shaded in darkness ! 

Americans ! let it be not so with yon ! I would to God, that 
the principles contended for in the Revolution had been de- 
fended and finally established, after the old Lion of England 
had ceased to roar. But too fondly trusting in the efficacy of 
the divine truth they advocated, and the faithfulness of their 
descendants for the removal of evils they acknowledged to be 
incompatible with liberty, our honored fathers fell short of the 
•great Avork they ought to have accomplished. 

Had they been as faithful in rebuking their friends, as they 
were in fighting their enemies, or had their degenerate descend- 
ants fulfilled the high expectations of their fathers, the great 
trutli then promulgated by them, "that all men are born, and 
of right ought to be free and equal,*' would this day be exem- 
plified 111 the condition of all classes in this republic. But I 
will not condemn them. No! Perhaps they perfonmed the 
[)art designed for thein ! And while I am satisfied their hearts 
were right, though they may have erred in judgement, if I for- 
get what they did accomplish for humanity, '-may my right 
hand forget her cunning and my tongue cleave to the roof of 
my mouth " ! 

After the peace of 1783, six years passed away, and in the 
"Bonds of the Old Confederation " imperfect as they were, the 
union seemed to prosper. But the day came for the master 
minds of the revolution to cement a stronger union between 
the states, and sad to tell, to the council hall came several of 
the ancient brotherhood who had not carried into practice the 



principles of that Declaration, to the support of which they 
pledged their all ! and strange to say, the freedom of white 
men was that alone for which they contended. 

From the plains of the " sunny South, " drenched in the war 
of liberty with the best blood of northern freemen, as they 
were led on by the strong armed "blacksmith" who used to 
make the anvil ring just east of where we are to day, came 
men to ask protection, not as they did of "Nat. Green" and 
his gallant army in 1780, for liberty, but for Slavery ! That 
was a fearful hour ! Not only the future destiny of this repub- 
lic, but the dispensation of the blessings of freedom throughout 
the world, in some measure, hung upon the decision. It was a 
solemn time for our patriotic fathers. They hesitated. If such 
a proposal had been made by any other class of men, they 
would have spurned it from them in indignant scorn ! 

But the proposition came from those who stood by them on 
the floor of Congress through the storm of the revolution ; from 
those who braved with them shoulder to shoulder, the bullets 
and bayonets of British hirelings at " Saratoga," at " Eul^w 
Springs," at " Yorktown" ! The sages and statesmen of the 
South, assured them, that they only wished a recognition of 
slavery for a few short years, saying and no doubt believing, that 
the curse would be rooted out by the growth of freedom very 
soon. The men who disdained to wear the yoke of Britian 
faltered, and gave consent ! The die was cast ! 

Had the noble " Sherman,'''^ the great " Franklin " and many 
others in that convention, been as decided against oppression as 
they were in the Congress of seventy-six : had the brave 
" Hamilton " been actuated by the manly spirit that urged him 
against the oppressor on the battle field as aid to " Washington," 
the rights of a single man would never have been com- 
promised ! 

The constitution was adopted, and an institution recognized 
directly at variance with its plainest truths ! 

That was a sad day's work for freedom ! When Eve tasted 
the forbidden fruit, " Earth felt the wound and nature sighing 
through all her works, gave signs of wo, that all was lost ! " 

Methinks after so many years of blood and toil and suifering 
m defence of the rights of man, when our New England 
fathers compromised the dear bought privileges, with slavery, 
which they had never surrendered at the cannon's mouth, the 
" Genius of Liberty^'' uttering a piercing shriek, plumed her 
wings, and directed her flight away to some far off" mountain 
top, to mourn o'er disappointed love, and blasted hopes ! " It 
is always dangerous to compromise in the least degrees, right 
whh wr->n2: f^m'Tf-nAfr a siri^lf iw}i. ;nid ihn 



»-(! 



10 

dcinatidcd. A good cause l)use(l on Holy jjiiiiciples must 
rstand aloiif. or not stand ut all ! "■ Man must either serve God 
or mammon."" There is no neutral ground to anchor on. If 
tlic cause ot" Temperance cannot prosper, without yielding to 
the rumscUer his feigned riglits, it caimot prosper at all! If a 
foundation cimnot be laid broad enough for the '' Temple of 
Liherty.'' unless slavery is the chief corner stone, tlte glorious 
structure; will never })e erected ! I will not condemn the 
•'Constitution of my native land:"" No! 1 yield to no man in 
attachment to, and reverence for its great [jrinciples, its lead- 
ing features. Though there are itndoubtedly many imper- 
fections in that instrument, yet with this single exception, I 
believe it to be the noblest form of Government ever instituted 
among men. And that very exception would have proved 
iiiUl and void had its other noble provisions been truly adminis- 
tered from that day to this. Had this been the case, justice 
v.'ould have been dispensed to all ere this hour : '' every yoke 
would have been broken and the oppressed gone free." The 
■• father of his country," died fondly anticipating that the day 
was hastening on, when m all the land for whose liberty he 
>acriliced so much not a bondman could be found. He placed 
00 much confidence in the children of those men whom he 
lad so oft led on to victory ! They have proved recreant to 
he v/ork entrusted to their charge. Instead of relieving the 
oondmen, they have stayed up the oppressors hands ! The 
)lai7iest clauses of that constitution, have been perverted and 
;et aside for many years, until in some portions of this land, 
liberty is but a name ! And in my opinion, the first fatal error, 
hough in appearance exceeding small, was committed when at 
he adoption of the constifution, our fathers silently acquiessed 
n the continuance of a wrong in utter contradiction of every 
)rinciple before avowed. 

O' it would have been a noble climax to the great drama of 
he revolution, worthy to succeed the immortal "Declaration 
'f Independauce." had they bearded the Lion in his den, and 
• proclaimed libeily throughout the land, to all the inhabitants 
liereof !" 

The framers ot' the constitution have performed their parts 
nd left the stage, after organizing the government, and for a 
inie administerin.o the laws. Almost, if not every tiling- that 
nunates from the hand of man, like man himself, contains 
/ithin itself the seeds ol' Us own dissolution. So it is witq 
le constitutu)n. I would to (jod it were otherwise ; but the 
igns of tlie times tt»o plandy indicutt; that it will not longcon- 
nue a bond of uuiun between these states. The restrictions 
list off by some, will soon cease to be regarded by all. Ye 
annot worship God and Mammon. TAglit and Dar/nicss, 



It 

Slavery txnd L/6(T/«/ cannot exist together. 1 know a thousand 
theories and facts are olten adduced to prove the opjwsite : 
men so dread the thought of disunion, and the prosperity of 
the country for sixty years is pointed at in contradiction. -;- 
1 acknowledge her wondrous growth in strengfii, in riches, in 
knowledge. She has ruslied on in giant strides without a par- 
allel in the history of all the nations that have preceded her. — 
But has the purity, the stern integrity, the unyieldnig attach- 
ment to liberty, of her citizens "grown with her growth, and 
strengthened with her strength ?'" 1 know you fain would not 
hear such a (piestion. So it always has been. Athens prospered 
under the splendid administration of Pericles until her citizens 
rolled in luxury, and her gov^ernment defied the power of sur- 
romiding nations. As crowds were ascending, some pleasant 
morning, to one of the gorgeous marble temples erected and 
embelished by Pericles' direction for the worship of the Gods, 
could I have asked one of that throng if he did not 
fear the destruction of " Athenian freedom, " he would have 
spurned the thought. So it may be with you. Yet in 
the reign of Pericles were sown the seeds, the Iruit of whicli 
so enervated the hearts and paralyzed the arms of the proud 
Athenians, that their boasted freedom took wings and flew 
away ! 

When Cffisar led his armies to battle and to victory in 

Spain, his countrymen rejoiced and clapped their hands, never 
dreaming that the powerful arm then waging wnr against their 
enemies, would ever be arrayed against them ! Yet the '-die 
was cast !'■ Caesar passed the Rubicon, nnd Ruiitc wa^ free 
110 more. 

This nation too has wonderfully prospered; ansen to a 
height in sixty years, which others have not been able to attain 
in a thousand ! She may as rapidly decline ! Her noon day 
sun may as soon set in blood ! Who can read her history for a 
few years past, comprehend her present position, and not trem- 
ble for his country in prospect of the future ? 

If this union is to break into fragments, like a potter's ves- 
sel, if this giant nation is to plunge like '• PhaeLon " into tiie 
gulf beneath ; how many will arise and condemn her, because 
professing liberty, she has enslaved her children ! On the eve 
of her destruction, how many will gather round her, as did the 
ghosts of the murdered victims, in the tent of Richard III. on 
the night preceding the day on which lie lost his life, and 
shaking their gory locks, exclaim, " thy condemnation is 
just ?"" And who can gainsay them ? 

In a nation where the people pretend to govern themselves, a 
President has usurped pov/er, George the third would never 
have dared to wield ! Professing to decide who shall rule us 



l«2 

M the ballot box, tlie aspirants for office mould us as the pottei 
does the clay, and party has entirely taken the place of right 
principles, in the decision of questions, affecting the happiness 
of millions of men ! The time has been in the history of the 
world, when if a man could say, I am a " Roman citizen," the 
fact afforded him }>rotection in almost any land. The time has 
very recently been, when if a poor sailor boy could exclaim in 
some far distant clime, '• I am an American,"' it Avas a passport 
to the society and the hearts of tlie people. The Roman cit- 
izen was protected for fear of the power of Rome ; the Ameri- 
can respected because of his attachment to freedom. But we have 
in such a boastful manner abused the confidence reposed in us, 
that our President himself has recently attempted to Imlly Eng- 
land and France , and we arc called bragadocios throughout 
the world ! 

Not satisfied Vv^ith making beasts of ourselves, we have in- 
duced the po«r '^red men^' to drink the fire-water; robbed 
them of their hunting grounds, and driven them at the point of 
the bayonet far aAvay from their homes. Bloodhounds have 
been trained to hunt them down like wild beasts, and as a fit 
climax to a series of exterminating wars waged against them, 
'^ Oseola,'' the noblest chieftain that has appeared since the 
days of " Tecmnseh, "' was treacherously taken with a ^^Jlag 
of Truce,'' imprisoned, and basely murdered in truckling cow-- 
ardice. Opjiressod as they arc, defrauded as they have been, if 
another King Philip should arise amono- them, how the terri- 
ble war whoop would ring again, along our western boarders ! 

Professing the most rigid simplicity as republicans, condemn- 
ing all distinctions in society except such as are founded in 
merit, a jjurse proud aristocracy walk the streets of our cities, 
second only in self importance to the lords they imitate on the 
other side of the Atlantic ! Professing to guarantee liberty of 
speech and of the press to all our citizens, the ^'■editor of n. pub- 
lic paper '' in the old Bay ^^tate has been dragged through the 
streets l)y a halter ; another in Kentucky has been robbed of 
liis property andthreatened with cowardly murder : and another 
in Illinois, basely killed in defence of rights guaranteed to him 
by the constitution of his country ! 

Professing to shield the Ireeman of all nations under the 
folds of our l)road banner, as we have the brave Pole and the 
ii()])le Greek, tlie same stripes and stars have been Jloating at 
the luiztMi peak of vessels lying off" the coast of Africa, like 
tiungry tigers thirsting for blood, and the government has con- 
nived at the acursed traffic, and siilfcred tlie ffag of this repub- 
lic to be disgraced with im])unity! The venerable agents of 
Massachusetts, have been unceremoniously thrust from the soil 
of her sister states, the kind hearted " Torry " ha.s been mur- 



n 

dered in the damp prison house, ni open violatuai of a consti- 
tution, one of whose provisions guarantees, that the right of thf? 
citizens of one state, shall be respected ni each of the others, 
and the very spirit of wJiich nivokes all living under it to ''break 
every yoke and let the oppressed go free !"" 

Professhig as a people great reverence Ibr " law and order, " 
in many of the states Judge Lynch is t)ie stern tribunal from 
Avhich their can be no appeal ; and in some ot" the very small- 
est states if men could have their will, mob law would be fri- 
iimphaut and the " goddess of Reason " would be drawn through 
our streets by the jt)?^/Y f/e//i')c/-«c?/ as she was throngli Paris in 
the bloody days of the French Revolution. 

And as though our money saving nation feared that all these 
bloody pages in her history would not aflbrd sufficient contra- 
diction to her loud mouthed professions, in this the boasted 
"home of the oppressed and the land of the free, " from July 
4th, 1776, to this day, in bold blasphemous violation of the 
great principles then set fortli, every sixth rnan and woman and 
child has been enslaved ! 

Well might Jefferson excbim, "when 1 think that God is 
just, I tremble for my country!"- 

And these poor bondmen, on authority of the same •'great 
man," during all these long years of servitude, have endured 
suifering and cruel wrong, "one hour of which is worse than 
ages like that against which our lathers rose to arms." '• So- 
odious is this horrid system that the author of the Declaration 
of Independence farther says, in his " Notes on Virginia," " the 
commerce between master and slave, is a perpetual exercise of 
the most boisterous passions, the most unremitting disposition 
on the one part, and degrading submission on the other!" — 
And yet this deadly institution has been sutfered to entwine 
itself in hideous folds around the body politic, like the " ser- 
pent in the Laocoou Group " imtii extrication seems almost 
impossible. For at this day, this nation of boasting freemen, 
instead of simply extenuating and palliating this bane of 
libei'ty, as m 1789, has become its great defender, and thrown 
down the gauntlet as its voluntary champion ! The policy best 
calculated to foster and protect it, has been continued, regard- 
less of the consequences to all the states in which it has not 
been recognized by laws. The north has been as subservient 
to the slave holding oligarchy of the south, as the veriest slave 
beyond Mason and Dixon's line, and measures calculated to 
invigorate i\\e free laborer with a recompense worthy of his toil, 
have been gagged and ousted by the representatives of 
slavery itself "Tariff" and "all!" The " Palmetto State" 
alone, nullified the laws and defied the power of the Union 
until the North again compromised her rights, for a mess of 



11 

pottage in return. The whole power and patronage of the gov- 
ernment, has been used to prop up and support the ^'^ peculiar 
institution " of a portion of the states, at the expose of the 
other portion. In furtherance of their poHcy, rebellion has 
been instigated in a province of a weak sister republic, and af- 
ter years spent in the most treacherous, consummate, double- 
dealing, that Province has been torn away by wicked hands, 
and a wholesale robbery perpetrated, in broad day, as cowardly 
and reckless as tiie world ever saw ! Yes! '•' Texas''' has been 
wrenched from distracted '• Mexico'' in utter violation of every 
prniciple of justice, "human" and ''divine,*' by a series of 
measures calculated in the language of John P. Hale, " to ex- 
cite the scorn of man and the indignation of Heaven !" The 
old British Lion growled, and our boasted rights to Oregon 
were compromised, but poor, hlood-ridden, dowu-troddeji 
Mexico, is unable to cope with us in arms, and not satisfied 
with robbery, our government must add murder to the former 
crime ; sunder and dismember her empire, by famine and pesti- 
lence, fire and sword ! 

Americans ! Tell not again in the ears of your children the 
tale of the cruel dismemberment and division of brave Poland, 
by the cowardly tyrants around her ; weep not again o'er the 
destruction of Grecian liberty ; breathe not your fiery 
anathemas against the accursed oppression of England ; on 
your own proud escutcheon rests a stain, a base stigma, black 
and bloody as the gates of hell ! ! The Aegis of your laws is 
thrown over the oppressor, and the true freeman, left without 
protection ! Disguise it as you may, deny it as you will, this 
giant nation is prosecuting a War for conquest and for power, 
and as at that time when the humble '-Nazarine'" was arrayed 
in Pilate's judgment hall, the hypocritical, self righteous Pha- 
risees, raised the damning cry, " crucify him, crucify him," so 
now, those loudest in their professions of attachment to liberty, 
are raising the murderous cry, " crush Mexico at a single blow! ' 

Let red handed covfla^ration apply the burning torcli to her 
most thriving towns ! Let the sii-ord pierce the hearts of all 
who dare defend her expiring freedom ! Ravish the wives of 
the citizens, and make orphans of their children ; and let pesti- 
lence and famine follow in the train, and the besom o( destruc- 
tion sweep over that devoted land ! And for what purpose ? — 
To what end ? That slavery may ho pcrpetiinfed and the free 
laborers of the North also enchained ! Ah ! There is a 
God in Heaven ! Justice and judgment are the habitation of 
his throne, and his vengeance shall not sleep forever. In 
this hated M^ar for conquest, and lust for power, thousands in 
madness, have avowed that same Heaven daring, God defying 
principle that has so often been used by wicked riders, to plunge 
nations into ruthless war, and deluffe the world in blood. 



15 

" My country right or wrong ! The laws ot" my country 
( be they ever so corrupt) first, and the laws of Heaven afler- 
ivards ! No ! Tis nothing less than the same principles repu- 
diated and resisted unto death by our fathers in seventy-six. — 
"Kings can do no wrong." Not literally, but meatihiQ-, that, 
though wrong, the citizens must obet/ the King without a 
murmur. 

I know the cry of traitor is raised now as it was when Pat- 
rick Henry refused to obey m seventy-five. Be it so ! I have 
counted the cost ! I repudiate, I detest the principle, and live 
or die, " so hefp me Heaven," I never will oheij the la70 in 
which It is embodied ! If this is treason, make the most of it. 

O' if Sam Adams could stand on this platform to day, how 
his great heart would burn within him. The men who with 
him, played the drama of the revolution, Avould never teach 
their children to stay up the hands of a wicked government, 
" right or wrong !" And I ask, what right has he who owns 
allegiance to this principle to claim to be the best friend to his 
country ? Who are your best friends as individuals? those who 
flatter you at your face and while you prosper, hide your faults 
and support you right or wrong for the spoils they obtain, or 
those who honestly tell you of your faults, and love your vir- 
tues not your vices? "Chatham, " "Burke," the " Immortal 
Junius," and a host of other Englishmen refused to support the 
government in an unjust war with these colonies, choosing to 
obey God, rather than man and were they traitors to their 
country ? Who now, m England, or America, dares to 
say it ? No I They were the best friends of their country in 
that awful crisis. I love my country, but I will not condemn 
her in words, and support her by action if she be in the wrong. 

Ah ! these are trying times in the history of this union but 
times expected by the patriots of the revolution ! The far see- 
ing Jefferson anticipated this day. On the 222 page of the 1802 
edition of his "notes on Virginia," he utters this remarkable 
prophecy. Will you listen to Jefferson ? 

" It can never be too often repeated, that the time for fixing 
every essential right on a legal basis is while our rulers are 
honest, and ourselves united. From the conclusion of this 
war, (the revolution) we shall be going down hill. It will 
not then be necessary to resort every moment to the people for 
support. They wil 1 be forgotten, and their rights be disre- 
garded. The}- will forget themselves, but in the sole fac- 
ulty of making m.oney, and will never think of uniting to effect 
a due respect for their rights. The shackles therefore. 
which shall not be knocked off at the conclusion of this war, 
will remain on us long, will be made heavier and heavier, 'till 
our rights shall revive or expire in a convulsion !" Has not a 



16 

portion ol this prophecy been fulfilled ? Have not the freemen 
of the north, while making money, tamely submitted to be 
enslaved ? and have not the shackles which were not knocked 
off at the close of the revolution, been made heavier and heav- 
ier till the crisis has almost arrived predicted by Jetferson when 
our rights will revive or expire inaconvulson? you can answe ! 
But do not despair ! No ! He that falters now, is unworthy 
the enjoyment of freedom ! Fulfill your obligation to your 
country by doing your duty to God, unmoved by the hyena 
cry of those who shout " traitor " in your ears. 1 had rather be 
a Traitor to a corrupt tyranical government, than a traitor to 
humanity and to God ! 

A haughty Prelate m the reign of Henry VHI. of England, 
executed the orders of the King " right or wrong, " and often 
trampled on the laws of God. At last the time came for him 
to die ; and in the most excrutiating anguish of soul he ex- 
claimed ; " Had I but served my God with half the zeal I 
served my King, He would not in mine age have left me naked 
to mine enemies !"' 

Americans! let no present attachment to "Party," or to 
" Government," compel you to take up the lamentation of 
Oaidmal Woolsey m a dying hour :' 



